Washing machine lubricating system



Nov. 29, 1955 K. CLARK WASHING MACHINE LUBRICATING SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed April 26, 1947 tllliillllltllltlil.,Illlllllllllllllil Nov. 29, 1955 K, CLARK 2,725,118

WASHING MACHINE LUBRICATING SYSTEM Original Filed April 26. 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR.

BY MM JW @mu Nov. 29, 1955 K. CLARK WASHING MACHINE LUBRICATING SYSTEM Original Filed April 26. 194'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 29, 1955 K. CLARK WASHING MACHINE LUBRICATING SYSTEM Original Filed April 26. 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

United States Patent C WASHING MACHINE LUBRICATING SYSTEM Kendall Clark, Gakwood, Ohio, assigner to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Original application April 26, 1947, Serial No. 744,247. Divided and this application `lanuary 12, 1952, Serial No. 270,051

3 Claims. (Cl. 184--6) This invention relates to a domestic appliance and more particularly to automatic washing machines and parts thereof.

This application is a true division of the parent application S. N. 744,247, tiled April 26, 1947, which has become abandoned since the tiling of this application. The parent application S. N. 744,247 is a continuation-inpart of S. N. 511,515, led November 24, 1943, issued on June 17, 1947, as Patent 2,422,395. This Patent 2,422,395 is a division of S. N. 437,076, tiled March 31, 1942, which became abandoned following the filing of Patent 2,422,395.

The parent application S. N. 744,247 is also a continuation in part of S. N. 524,695 led March 2, 1944, issued February 15, 1949, as Patent 2,461,629. Patent 2,461,629 is a division of S. N. 437,075, filed March 3l, 1942, issued on April l1, 1944, as Patent 2,346,152. Patent 2,346,152 is a continuation in part of Patent 2,366,236, led September 28, 1940, and issued January 2, 1945.

It is an object of my invention to provide an automatic Washing machine with an improved lubricating system and an improved means for sealing the lubricating system.

It is another object of my invention to provide a simple oil pump which may be used for lubricating an automatic washing machine.

This application pertains to a vertical type of automatic washing machine in which a top opening tub contains a reciprocating agitating means driven from beneath by an improved electric motor and transmission means which may be controlled to either operate the agitating means for washing or to spin the tub to remove the water from the tub and from the clothes being Washed.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of an improved and simplified automatic washing machine mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View of the lower portion of the agitator and the upper portion of the mechanism connected to the agitator and the tub;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a locking mechanism shown in section in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional View of the portion of the mechanism directly beneath Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a slightly enlarged view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the upper portion of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along the lines 9--9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the lines 10-10 of Fig. 9.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1 there is shown a washer in which the housing includes a bell-shaped portion 321 enclosing the transmission mechanism proper having a flange at its lower edge which is bolted to a casting 323. To the bottom of this casting there is connected the motor housing 325 and beneath the motor housing 325 is the pump housing 327. The motor housing 325 contains a stator 329 surrounding the rotor 331 mounted upon the drive shaft 333. The motor is provided with a centrifugal type starting control 335 (Fig. 7). Fastened to the motor housing 325 is an end member 337 carrying a ball bearing 339 (see Fig. 7) for supporting the lower end of the drive shaft 333. Beneath the ball bearing 339, the drive shaft 333 is provided with a Ventilating fan 341 which draws air through the apertures 343 and 345 into the motor housing 325 to cool the motor and then the air is withdrawn through the openings 347 in the end member 337 and distributed radially by this fan 341.

The upper end of the drive shaft 333 is splined and tits into the hub of an eccentric type impeller 349 (see Fig. 9) of an oil pump 351 which is particularly well adapted for this service. The oil pump will be described in detail with the description of the lubricating system.

The wound spring clutch The hub of the oil pump impeller 349, is brazed within a recess in the lower end of the drive shaft 353 rotatably mounted in the central hub 355 of the casting 323. This hub 355 contains a recess surrounding the lower end of the drive shaft 353 providing space for the wound spring clutch member 357. The upper end of this wound spring clutch member 357 has bonded to it by soldering or brazing or some other means, a lug 359 (see Fig. 8) which engages the jaws of an inner ring 363, surrounding and rotatable upon the drive shaft 353, and the jaws 366 on a collar 367 surrounding the upper end of the wound spring clutch member 357. The ring 363 and the collar 367 are both coupled to the drive shaft torque plate 371 through the engagement of their lugs 361 and 366. Through this, the drive shaft torque plate 371 is coupled to the upper end of the Wound spring clutch member 357. The wound spring clutch member 357 is formed slightly smaller than the adjacent section of the drive shaft 353 (see Fig. 8) so that it tends to grip this portion of the shaft lightly. The direction of the winding is such that when the motor rotor 331 rotates in its normal direction of rotation, the wound spring clutch member 357 will wrap itself upon this portion of the drive shaft 353 to grip it tightly to cause the drive shaft torque plate 371 to rotate with the drive shaft 353.

To disconnect the drive shaft torque plate 371 from the drive shaft 353 and to hold it stationary, a radially located trip shaft 373 is provided extending through the aperture in the hub 355. The inner end portion of this trip shaft 373 is flatted and hardened. When the shaft i373 is turned with the at surface uppermost, the absence .lof any obstruction permits the free rotation of the lower end of the wound spring clutch member 357 in tight engagement with the drive Shaft 353. The outer end of the trip shaft 373 extends through the aperture in the outer wall of the casting 323 which is provided with a seal member 375 of synthetic rubber (see Fig. 7) held within the cavity by a washer 377. The outer end of this trip shaft 373 has riveted to it a trip shaft lever 379 normally held in engagement with the trip shaft retainer 381 by the trip shaft coil spring 383 which normally tends to hold the trip shaft 373 with its flatted end uppermost. The armature 386 of a solenoid 335 is connected by a spring link 387 with the trip shaft lever. The spring link 387 includes a wire portion limiting the stretching of the spring. When the solenoid 385 is energized, the trip shaft 373 will be turned so that its end portion will engage the free lower end of the wound spring clutch member 357 so that rotation of the drive shaft 353 in the usual direction will cause the wound spring clutch member 357 to be slightly unwound into engagement ywith the inner surface of the recess within the hub 355. This will hold the drive shaft torque plate 371 stationary.

T he planetary drive unit The drive shaft torque plate 3'7l is connected through the upper and lower brake members 389 and 391, the pins 393 and the coil springs 395 to the bosses 397 at the bot tom of the cage assembly 399.

The cage assembly 399 includes a lower casting or forging 402 which is rotatable relative to the housing 321 and to the drive shaft 353 and which rests upon the drive shaft torque plate 371. A snap ring 354 with a Washer beneath is provided upon the upper end of the shaft 353 for holding the drive plate 371 and the inner ring 363 firmly against the bottom of the casting 492. Bolted to the top of the casting or forking 4692 is a pressed metal portion 444 connecting at its upper end with a sleeve 406 rotatably mounted in the bearing 408 held by a stationary sleeve 410 which is connected and sealed to the top of the bell-shaped portion of the housing 321. Riveted to the pressed metal member 464 is the spin balance weight 412.

When the cage assembly 399 is held stationary by the energization of the solenoid 385, the drive shaft 353 through its drive pinion 414 drives the crankshaft gear 416 pinned to the crankshaft 413. The crankshaft 418 carries a large fixed pin 429 extending upwardly at an angle which receives a sleeve 422 provided with an arm 424 (Fig. 5) extending into the trunnion block 426 within the trunnion yoke 428. The trunnion yoke 428 is fixed to the lower end of the hollow pulsator shaft 430 guided by the lower and upper bearings 432 and 434 (Fig. 5) which iit within the sleeve 406.

When the cage assembly is held stationary, the drive shaft pinion 414 rotates the crankshaft gear 416 and the crankshaft pin 420. This causes the arm 424 to move up and down thus raising and lowering the pulsator shaft 430 with each revolution of the crankshaft 418.

The pulsator The upper end of the hollow pulsator shaft 430 is provided with a solid extension 436 which carries the pulsator 11. This solid extension includes an upper threaded end 438 and a iiatted portion providing a shoulder 440. A washer 442 (Fig. 5) is placed over the atted portion and rests upon the shoulder 440. rl`he upper end portion of a resilient bellows 444 of natural o1' synthetic rubber iits over the flattened portion of the pulsator rod and rests upon the Washer 442.

A lower pressed metal agitating cone 446 has its central portion resting on top of the closed upper end of the bellows 444. Resting on the outer flange of the cone 446 is a resilient cone-shaped ring 448 of natural or synthetic rubber. The inner edge of this ring 448 is centralized by an offset shoulder 450 in the cone 446. An upper metal pulsator cone 452 tits over the lower cone 446 and has a downwardly turned bead at its outer rim engaging the annular shoulder provided by the thicker inner annular portion of the resilient ring 448. The inner edge of the ring 44S is therefore held between the upper and lower cones 452 and 446 and is securely locked between the downwardly turned bead on the rim of the upper cone 452 and the offset shoulder 450.

A cone-shaped nut 454 threads onto the upper threaded end 43S of the pulsator shaft 430, to clamp the upper and lower cones 452 and 446 as well as the upper end of the bellows 444 tightly against the washer 442 and the shoulder 440 upon the solid extension 436 of the pulsator shaft 430. A cylindrical perforated detergent tube 456 is placed over the nut 454 and rests upon a shoulder provided upon the upper cone 452.

The lubricant return The outer tub 13 is fastened by screws 486 threading into ears 488 projecting from the hub 490 keyed to the sleeve 4Go by a key 492. The hub 490 is held in place by a nut 494 provided with a recess which receives a lubricant removing member including an inwardly anged member 496 of synthetic elastic rubber which is pressed against the hollow pulsator shaft 430 by the inwardly directed spring ngers of the metal spring member 498. rhe outer surface of the sleeve 406 is provided with slots 493 (Fig. 3) parallel to the key slot 492 for returning the lubricant scraped from the shaft 430 by the sealing member 496, so that it is returned to the space above bearing 468 which supports the sleeve 496. The bearing 468 tits in the upper portion 410 of the housing assembly.

The projecting sleeve 410 is fastened to the mechanism support 27 by the nut S03 carrying a sealing member 565 of synthetic rubber material containing very small upper and lower annular coil springs 507 which hold the inner surface of the sealing member in contact with the ring 569 provided upon the sleeve 406. The hub 490 fits tightly upon the top of the ring 509 to prevent the escape of any lubricant through that joint. The sleeve projection 410 is prevented from rotating relative to the mechanism support 27 through a-key member 511 fastened to the outside of the sleeve projection 41d and having a tongue which extends in a metal reinforcing and the rubber compound at the top of the mechanism support 27.

The spring balancer T he lubricant system Through the breather opening S27 the housing is supplied with lubricant almost up to the level of the top of the casting 323. To prevent the loss of lubricant in the event that during shipping, the mechanism is placed on its side, the breather opening is provided with a check valve 529 which will close the opening in that event. However, under operating conditions the interior of the housing is open to the atmosphere. `A shield vS31 is provided for preventing the splashing or throwing of lubricant from the mechanism out through the breather 527.

As shown in Fig. l0 the lubricant in the casting 323 must pass through a plug-type cylindrical iiltering` screen S33 before it enters the passage 535 connecting with a recess 537 formed in the cylindrical wall portion of the oil pump 351. The eccentric type impeller 349 draws the lubricant from the passage 535 and the adjacent parts of the recess 537 aud carries the lubricant in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 9, back to the recess 537. The recess 537 is provided with a dividing member in the form of a thin leaf spring 539 having one end curled around the post 541 to provide an anchorage. Extending from this post 541 the leaf spring 539 extends into sealing contact with the outer wall of the recess 537 and thence curls diagonally into sealing contact with the peripheral surface of the eccentric impeller 349. The discharge passage 543 extends upwardly from recess 537 on the opposite side of the spring 539 from the inlet passage 535.

The spring S39 not only acts as both a spring and a dividing member for dividing the high and low sides of the pump but it also acts as a pressure relief valve, since excess pressure will cause it to be deliected out of sealing engagement with the periphery of the eccentric 349 with which it is normally spring-pressed into sealing engagement to relieve the pressure within the pumping chamber.

The leaf spring 539 has a width substantiallyI equal to the thickness of the eccentric impeller which is substantially equal in thickness to the distance between the walls of the recess 537 which are substantially in alignment with the faces of the eccentric irnpeller 349.

The opening for the shaft 333 in the pump 351 is sealed in the following manner: The upper metal ring 350 is sealed to the impeller 349 by an upper round ring 550 of synthetic rubber located within a recess in the impeller member as will appear in Fig. 7. The lower face of the metal ring 350 is provided with a running sealing surface. The metal ring 350 rotates with the drive shaft 333 and its running sealing surface is contacted by a stationary ring 352, the upper surface of which is held in contact with the sealing surface of the ring 350 by the conical coil spring 354, the lower end of this coil spring 354 is held by a anged metal member 356 connected to the bottom of the housing of the pump 351. The ring 352 is sealed to the housing of the pump 351 by a second round rubber ring 552 of synthetic rubber. The ring is held in place by a disc 358 directly above the member 356. This rubber ring permits movement of the ring 352 relative to the housing of the pump 351 and yet maintains a seal between the two. The relative rotation, however, is between the metal rings 350 and 352 which prevents the escape of lubricant through the opening in the housing of the pump 351 provided for the shaft 333.

The discharge passage 543 extends upwardly to the aperture in the hub 355 which receives the inner end of the trip shaft 373. The inner end of the trip shaft 373 is necked inwardly to provide a passage for the lubricant to the iatted portion thereof. As shown best in Fig. 7 the lubricant then ows through the transverse drilled passages 545 to the central lubricant passage 547 in the drive shaft 353. One transverse drilled passage from the central axial passage 547 supplies lubricant to the inner surface of the clutch spring bushing 363, as shown in Fig. 7. A second transverse drilled passage connecting with the axial passage 549 lubricates the lower bearing in the lower cage casting 402. These transverse drilled passages also feed the drilled passage 549 which lubricates the lower bearing of the crankshaft 418. The interior of the crankshaft 418 is drilled to provide a vertical lubricant passage 551 which is fed by a transverse oil hole connecting with the drilled passage 549. The vertical passage 551 has an outlet oil hole which connects with the transverse drilled passage 553 which lubricates the upper bearings of both the crankshaft 418 and the drive shaft 353.

The upper end of the passage 551 discharges into an annular recess 555 in the bottom of the sleeve 422. This connects directly with a passage 557 extending within the sleeve 422 to the drilled passage 559 in the arm 424. The trunnion block 426 has a large passage 561 and a small passage 563 connecting directly with an outlet oil hole from the passage 559 in the arm 424. Through these passages the bearing between the arm 424 and the trunnion block is lubricated, and also the bearing of the trunnion block in the trunnion yoke is lubricated. The small lubricant passage 563 discharges lubricant into the hollow pulsator shaft 430. This fills this shaft 430 with lubricant and this hollow shaft is provided with a lubricant hole 565 at approximately its midpoint, which discharges into the space surrounding the shaft 430 between the upper and lower bearings 434 and 432. Through this these bearings are lubricated. The sleeve 406 is provided with an upper lubricant hole 567 for lubricating the bearing 408 while a lower lubricant hole 569 may be provided when necessary, to permit the escape of excess lubricant.

Should any lubricant pass the upper bearing 434 it will be scraped olf and removed by the lubricant removing member 496. Such lubricant so removed, is returned to the housing through slots 493 (see Fig. 3) parallel to the key slot 492 in the sleeve 406 as mentioned before. The seal 505 prevents lubricant from leaking out of the housing in the space surrounding the spin shaft 406.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as' herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A washing machine mechanism including an agitator rod, a spinning member surrounding the rod, a driving means, a transmission means connecting said driving means with said rod and spinning member having means vfor axially reciprocating said rod and for rotating said spinning member, a lubricant pump driven by said driving means, said spinning member and said rod and transmission means having bearing means, means for conducting lubricant from said pump to the bearing means of said transmission means and said agitator rod, and means including a lubricant scraper surrounding said rod for removing lubricant from said agitator rod and conveying it to the bearing means of said spinning member.

2. A washing machine mechanism including a case, a hollow agitator rod and a spinning member projecting upwardly out of said case, a driving means, a transmission means within said case connecting the driving means with said rod and spinning member, said transmission means and rod having bearing surfaces, a lubricant pump having its inlet connected to the interior of said case driven by said driving means, said transmission means being provided with lubricant passages extending from the outlet of said pump to the interior of said hollow rod, said rod having a passage extending from its hollow interior to its bearing surface, and means for removing excess lubricant from the agitator rod above its bearing surface for return to the interior of said case.

3. A washing machine mechanism including a case, a hollow agitator rod and a spinning member projecting upwardly out of said case, a driving means, a transmission means within said case connecting the driving means with said rod and spinning member, said transmission means and rod having bearing surfaces, a lubricant pump having its inlet connected to the interior of said case driven by said driving means, said transmission means being provided with lubricant passages extending from the outlet of said pump to the interior of said hollow rod, said rod having a passage extending from its hollow interior to its bearing surface, said spinning member having its own bearing surface, said spinning member also having a lubricant passage within it extending from said agitator rod to its own bearing surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 741,290

Wood Oct. 13, 1903 1,424,362 Krogh Aug. 1, 1922 1,450,808 Huenergardt Apr. 3, 1923 1,505,480 Manville Aug. 19, 1924 1,512,934 Jacobsen Oct. 28, 1924 1,718,197 Starkey June 18, 1929 1,758,274 Butenkoif May 13, 1930 1,768,761 Haultain July 1, 1930 1,773,745 Nacker Aug. 26, 1930 1,838,501 Schiff July 29, 1931 1,967,705 Bullmer July 24, 1934 2,066,931 Else Jan. 5, 1937 2,113,256 Jeanne Apr. 5, 1938 2,125,917 Hanna Aug. 9, 1938 2,144,064 Johnson Jan. 17, 1939 2,164,294 Mahan June 27, 1939 2,296,265 Russell Sept. 22, 1942 2,333,980 Branson Nov. 9, 1943 2,361,266 Clark Oct. 24, 1944 2,384,286 Dowling Sept. 4, 1945 2,384,903 Ferris Sept. 18, 1945 2,396,985 Burus Mar. 19, 1946 2,485,621 McNairy Oct. 25, 1949 2,492,831 Banker Dec, 27, 1949 

